All Reviews articles – Page 208
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ArticleAn Italian Sojourn. Sonatas by Castello, Stradella, Marini, Locatelli, Corelli, Tartini, Handel & Veracini
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Trio SettecentoComposer: Castello, Stradella, Marini, Locatelli, Corelli, Tartini, Handel & VeraciniTrio Settecento’s period-instrument accounts conjure up an attractive intimacy, even if violinist Rachel Barton Pine occasionally reverts to an attack and technical vocabulary more appropriate to the present century. Nevertheless, these players ...
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ArticleViolin Songs. Works by Elgar, Berg, Bridge, Copland, Prokofiev, Massenet, L. Boulanger, Poulenc, Ravel, Schubert & Strauss
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Madeleine Mitchell (violin) Andrew Ball (piano) Elizabeth Watts (soprano)Composer: Elgar, Berg, Bridge, Copland, Prokofiev, Massenet, L. Boulanger, Poulenc, Ravel, Schubert & Strauss The innumerable miniatures and short salon pieces written for the violin don’t get much of an outing nowadays, aside from ...
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ArticleGiger/Dähler. JS Bach: Towards Silence
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Paul Giger (violin) Marie-Louise Dähler (harpsichord)Composer: JS Bach If you’ve encountered any of Paul Giger’s ECM albums before now, and especially Ignis, you’ll know what I mean when I write of his unclassifiably sacred compositions. They’re not attached to ...
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ArticleHelen Callus. Works by Prokofiev (arr. Borissowsky), Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Bridge, Swain, Tertis, Schumann & Chopin
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Hellen Callus (viola) Phillip Bush (piano)Composer: Prokofiev (arr. Borissowsky), Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Bridge, Swain, Tertis, Schumann & Chopin For her latest recording, Helen Callus has researched the many transcriptions made by the ‘Father of the Russian Viola School’, Vadim ...
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ArticleDavid Matthews: Winter Remembered. Alwyn: Pastoral Fantasia. John McCabe: Concerto funebre. Holst: Lyric Movement. Maconchy: Romance
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) Orchestra Nova, George Vass (conductor)Composer: David Matthews, Alwyn, John McCabe, Holst, Maconchy Is there a better British violist than Sarah-Jane Bradley? I write just a week after hearing her play a demanding recital and after several ...
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ArticleTchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D op.35. Gang ChenZhanhao He: The Butterfly Lovers: Concerto for Violin
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Gil Shaham (violin) Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui (conductor)Composer: Tchaikovsky, Gang ChenZhanhao He: In terms of scorching commitment, Isaac Stern’s CBS/Sony account of the Tchaikovsky with the Philadelphia Orchestra in meltdown under their long-time music director Eugene Ormandy ...
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ArticleElgar: Violin Concerto in B minor op.61, Serenade for Strings op.20.
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: James Ehnes (violin) Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor) Composer: ElgarAndrew Davis and James Ehnes do not fall into the trap of exaggerating the wide mood swings of the first movement, and they never allow the tension levels in the ...
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ArticleGraham Whettam: String Quartets nos.2 & 4, Oboe Quartet no.2
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Carducci Quartet, Jennie-Lee Keetley (oboe)Composer: Graham Whettam The two string quartets here were written over 30 years apart. The Carducci Quartet premiered the Fourth Quartet in 2001, while the First had appeared in 1968. There is a meditative quality ...
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ArticleMozart: Sinfonia concertante in E flat major K364, Concertone in C major K190*, Rondo in C major K373
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Julia Fischer (violin) Gordan Nikolitch (violin/viola) Herre Jan Stegenga (cello)* Hans Meyer (oboe)* Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Yakov Kreizberg (conductor) Composer: MozartJulia Fischer again demonstrates her outstanding technical command, musical perception and expressive purpose in these compelling Mozart performances. Her ...
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ArticleDvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor op.104, Symphonic Variations op.78
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Pieter Wispelwey (cello) Budapest Festival orchestra, Iván Fischer (conductor)Composer: Dvorák During these hard-pressed financial days it’s a luxury to re-record the same concerto as Wispelwey has done with this work. His first, made with Lawrence Renes and the ...
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ArticleBrahms: ‘Double’ Concerto in A minor op.102, Clarinet Quintet in B minor op.115
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Renaud Capuçon (violin) Gautier Capuçon (cello) Paul Meyer (clarinet) Capuçon Quartet, Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor)Composer: Brahms Gautier Capuçon’s first cello entry sets the scene for an affectionate view of the ‘Double’ Concerto, very much ...
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ArticleTaneyev: String Quartets vol.1: no.1 in B flat minor op. 4 & no.3 in D minor op.7
The Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Carpe Diem QuartetComposer: Taneyev It has taken us a long time to come round to Sergei Taneyev (1856–1915). Melodiya made several Soviet-era recordings, and aficionados know something of his magnificent opera The Oresteia, but otherwise his symphonic output and ...
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ArticleBach: Sonatas for violin and keyboard nos.1–6 BWV1014–19
THE STRAD RECOMMENDSThe Strad Issue: January 2008Musicians: Richard Tognetti (violin) Daniel Yeadon (viola da gamba/cello) Neal Peres Da Costa (harpsichord/organ)Composer: BachSeveral fine period-instrument recordings of this glorious music currently grace the catalogue, including those by Rachel Podger (Channel), Andrew Manze (Harmonia Mundi), Giuliano Carmignola (Sony), Elizabeth Wallfisch ...
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ArticleKorngold: Piano Trio in D major op. 1, Suite op. 23*
Musicians: Trio Parnassus, Matthias Wollong (violin)* Composer: KorngoldThe progress of Erich Korngold (1897–1957) from Viennese child prodigy to Hollywood golden-age film composer is remarkable. Yet his ‘serious’ output spanned all this period, soaring to new heights with his violin and cello concertos.Many other works ...
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ArticleSibelius: Violin Concerto. Lindberg: Violin Concerto
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Lisa Batiashvili (violin) Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)Composer: Sibelius, Lindberg There’s something about violin concertos that has composers reaching for the soft soap. Is it that the challenge of balancing the solo instrument with an orchestra ...
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ArticleMartinu: Concerto for violin & flute, Duo concertante for two violins*, Concerto in D major for two violins†
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Bohuslav Matoušek (violin) Régis Pasquier (violin)* Jennifer Koh (violin)† Janine Thomsen (flute) Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Hogwood (conductor) Composer: MartinuMartinu’s list of compositions includes 16 operas, a dozen ballets, innumerable orchestral scores, over a hundred choral works, and most staggering of ...
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ArticleFriedrich Cerha: Cello Concerto. Schreker: Chamber Symphony
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Heinrich Schiff (cello) Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Peter Eötvös (conductor) Composer: Friedrich Cerha, Schreker Vienna is central to this disc. Viennese Friedrich Cerha’s Cello Concerto started life as a commission for the Wien Modern Festival in 1989, while ...
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ArticleMozart: Le nozze di Figaro (excerpts, arr. string quartet)
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Marcolini QuartetComposer: Mozart This release of string quartet arrangements of key extracts from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro perpetuates the Marcolini Quartet’s reputation for unusual programming. Using printed parts published by Simrock (Bonn, 1799) and housed in the ...
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ArticleAsturiana. Songs from Spain and Argentina: arrangements of works by Falla, Granados, Guastavino, Ginastera, Montsalvatge and López Buchardo
The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Kim Kashkashian (viola) Robert Levin (piano) Composer: Falla, Granados, Guastavino, Ginastera, Montsalvatge and López Buchardo Having grown up in Argentina, I have known these songs since childhood, and later played the odd one on the viola as well. I ...
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ArticleNicholas Altstaedt. Works by Beethoven, Webern, Bach, Ligeti and Stravinsky
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS The Strad Issue: January 2007Musicians: Nicholas Altstaedt (cello) Franco Piemontesi (piano)Composer: Beethoven, Webern, Bach, Ligeti and Stravinsky This uncommonly well-planned and recorded recital may have arisen from a competition winner (of the 2005 Deutschermusikwettbewerb) wishing to display the range of his abilities, but it ...
